NEW YORK: Forbes has released its annual list of the Top 50 most valuable sports teams in the world and for the fourth year running, the Dallas Cowboys tops the charts. The NFL franchise is currently valued at a monster $5 billion.
And in a first for the financial magazine’s annual list, every single team in the Top 50 is worth over $2 billion. For some context, seven years ago in 2012, there was only ONE team – Manchester United – with a $2 billion or more value in the Forbes’ ranking. Today, there are 52 teams across all sports worth at least $2 billion.
As per Forbes, the cut-off to rank among the world’s 50 most valuable sports teams is now $2.075 billion, up $125 million from last year and $1.2 billion from five years ago. The values of sports teams have skyrocketed on the backs of ballooning media rights deals and more owner-friendly collective bargaining agreements that restrain player costs.
Forbes further reports: The NFL is still the most dominant sports league when it comes to the worth of its franchises. More than half of the top 50 are American football squads. Credit the monster media-rights deals with the likes of CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN and DirecTV that paid out more than $260 million per team last year. The TV haul is a nice cushion to easily cover teams’ biggest expense item, player costs, before any tickets, sponsorships, beer or replica jerseys are sold. The cap on player salaries was $177 million last season (each team is also on the hook for $40 million annually in player benefit costs).
Forbes Top 50 Richest Clubs Full List:
50 | New Orleans Saints (NFL)
Value: $2.08 billion
1-Year % Change: 4%
Owner: Gayle Benson
Operating Income*: $115 million
49 | Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL)
Value: $2.08 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owner: Shahid Khan
Operating Income: $63 million
47 (tie) | Kansas City Chiefs (NFL)
Value: $2.1 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owners: Lamar Hunt Family
Operating Income: $60 million
47 (tie) | St. Louis Cardinals (MLB)
Value: $2.1 billion
1-Year % Change: 11%
Owner: William DeWitt Jr.
Operating Income: $65 million
46 | Arizona Cardinals (NFL)
Value: $2.15 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owner: Wiliam Bidwill
Operating Income: $74 million
45 | Liverpool (Soccer)
Value: $2.18 billion
1-Year % Change: 12%
Owners: John Henry, Tom Werner
Operating Income: $128 million
44 | Los Angeles Clippers (NBA)
Value: $2.2 billion
1-Year % Change: 2%
Owner: Steve Ballmer
Operating Income: $40 million
43 | Dallas Mavericks (NBA)
Value: $2.25 billion
1-Year % Change: 18%
Owner: Mark Cuban
Operating Income: $99 million
42 | Arsenal (Soccer)
Value: $2.27 billion
1-Year % Change: 1%
Owner: Stanley Kroenke
Operating Income: $102 million
41 | Los Angeles Chargers (NFL)
Value: $2.28 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owners: Spanos Family
Operating Income: $48 million
38 (tie) | New York Mets (MLB)
Value: $2.3 billion
1-Year % Change: 10%
Owners: Fred & Jeff Wilpon, Saul Katz
Operating Income: $30 million
38 (tie) | Carolina Panthers (NFL)
Value: $2.3 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owner: David Tepper
Operating Income: $62 million
38 (tie)| Houston Rockets (NBA)
Value: $2.3 billion
1-Year % Change: 5%
Owner: Tilman Fertitta
Operating Income: $103 million
37 | Brooklyn Nets (NBA)
Value: $2.35 billion
1-Year % Change: 2%
Owners: Mikhail Prokhorov, Joe Tsai
Operating Income: $53 million
36 | Indianapolis Colts (NFL)
Value: $2.38 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owner: James Irsay
Operating Income: $67 million
35 | Minnesota Vikings (NFL)
Value: $2.4 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owner: Zygmunt Wilf
Operating Income: $90 million
34 | Oakland Raiders (NFL)
Value: $2.42 billion
1-Year % Change: 2%
Owner: Mark Davis
Operating Income: $25 million
33 | Miami Dolphins (NFL)
Value: $2.58 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owner: Stephen Ross
Operating Income: $56 million
32 | Chelsea (Soccer)
Value: $2.58 billion
1-Year % Change: 25%
Owner: Roman Abramovich
Operating Income: $127 million
31 | Seattle Seahawks (NFL)
Value: $2.58 billion
1-Year % Change: 6%
Owners: Pat Allen Trust
Operating Income: $71 million
30 | Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL)
Value: $2.59 billion
1-Year % Change: 5%
Owners: Daniel Rooney Trust, Art Rooney II
Operating Income: $85 million
29 | Baltimore Ravens (NFL)
Value: $2.59 billion
1-Year % Change: 4%
Owner: Stephen Bisciotti
Operating Income: $107 million
28 | Atlanta Falcons (NFL)
Value: $2.6 billion
1-Year % Change: 5%
Owner: Arthur Blank
Operating Income: $113 million
27 | Green Bay Packers (NFL)
Value: $2.63 billion
1-Year % Change: 3%
Owners: shareholder-owned
Operating Income: $62 million
26 | Denver Broncos (NFL)
Value: $2.65 billion
1-Year % Change: 2%
Owners: Pat Bowlen Trust
Operating Income: $106 million
25 | Manchester City (Soccer)
Value: $2.69 billion
1-Year % Change: 9%
Owner: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Operating Income: $168 million
24 | Philadelphia Eagles (NFL)
Value: $2.75 billion
1-Year % Change: 4%
Owners: Jeffrey Lurie
Operating Income: $114 million
22 (tie)| Boston Celtics (NBA)
Value: $2.8 billion
1-Year % Change: 12%
Owners: Wycliffe & Irving Grousbeck, Robert Epstein, Stephen Pagliuca
Operating Income: $100 million
22 (tie)| Houston Texans (NFL)
Value: $2.8 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owner: Robert McNair
Operating Income: $161 million
21 | New York Jets (NFL)
Value: $2.85 billion
1-Year % Change: 4%
Owner: Robert Wood Johnson IV
Operating Income: $130 million
19 (tie) | Chicago Bears (NFL)
Value: $2.9 billion
1-Year % Change: 2%
Owners: McCaskey family
Operating Income: $100 million
19 (tie) | Chicago Bulls (NBA)
Value: $2.9 billion
1-Year % Change: 12%
Owner: Jerry Reinsdorf
Operating Income: $115 million
18 | San Francisco Giants (MLB)
Value: $3 billion
1-Year % Change: 5%
Owner: Charles Johnson
Operating Income: $84 million
17 | Bayern Munich (Soccer)
Value: $3.02 billion
1-Year % Change: -1%
Owners: Club members
Operating Income: $129 million
16 | San Francisco 49ers (NFL)
Value: $3.05 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owners: Denise DeBartolo York, John York
Operating Income: $106 million
14 (tie) | Chicago Cubs (MLB)
Value: $3.1 billion
1-Year % Change: 7%
Owners: Ricketts family
Operating Income: $87 million
14 (tie) | Washington Redskins (NFL)
Value: $3.1 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owner: Daniel Snyder
Operating Income: $122 million
12 (tie) | Los Angeles Rams (NFL)
Value: $3.2 billion
1-Year % Change: 7%
Owner: Stanley Kroenke
Operating Income: $68 million
12 (tie) | Boston Red Sox (MLB)
Value: $3.2 billion
1-Year % Change: 14%
Owners: John Henry, Thomas Werner
Operating Income: $84 million
10 (tie) | Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB)
Value: $3.3 billion
1-Year % Change: 10%
Owners: Guggenheim Baseball Management
Operating Income: $95 million
10 (tie) | New York Giants (NFL)
Value: $3.3 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owners: John Mara, Steven Tisch
Operating Income: $149 million
9 | Golden State Warriors (NBA)
Value: $3.5 billion
1-Year % Change: 13%
Owners: Joe Lacob, Peter Guber
Operating Income: $103 million
8 | Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
Value: $3.7 billion
1-Year % Change: 12%
Owners: Jerry Buss Family Trusts, Philip Anschutz
Operating Income: $147 million
7 | New England Patriots (NFL)
Value: $3.8 billion
1-Year % Change: 3%
Owner: Robert Kraft
Operating Income: $235 million
6 | Manchester United (Soccer)
Value: $3.81 billion
1-Year % Change: -8%
Owners: Glazer family
Operating Income: $238 million
5 | New York Knicks (NBA)
Value: $4 billion
1-Year % Change: 11%
Owner: Madison Square Garden Company
Operating Income: $155 million
4 | Barcelona (Soccer)
Value: $4.02 billion
1-Year % Change: -1%
Owners: Club members
Operating Income: –$37 million
3 | Real Madrid (Soccer)
Value: $4.24 billion
1-Year % Change: 4%
Owners: Club members
Operating Income: $112 million
2 | New York Yankees (MLB)
Value: $4.6 billion
1-Year % Change: 15%
Owners: Steinbrenner family
Operating Income: $30 million
1 | Dallas Cowboys (NFL)
Value: $5 billion
1-Year % Change: 4%
Owner: Jerry Jones
Operating Income: $365 million
